The recent designation of kelp as Washington’s state marine forest reflects the results of local research, conservation and recovery issues by a number of parties on the Olympic Peninsula, including its Native American tribes.

On April 16, the same day that Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson declared “Bull Kelp Day,” he also signed into law House Bill 1631, designating bull kelp as the official state marine forest.

Rep. Greg Nance (D-Kitsap), the bill’s primary sponsor, says he hopes this will help bull kelp make a comeback along Washington’s coastline, especially given what he identified as kelp’s role in helping to save endangered salmon and orca.

Nance noted that more than 80% of the kelp canopies that had flourished for millions of years, along the coastline of the western United States from California up through Alaska have  disappeared due to industrialization, rising water temperatures and ocean acidification.

“Bull kelp is a super seaweed, and it’s the key to our Puget Sound comeback story,” Nance said. “Salmon, orca and countless species count on kelp, but many folks have no idea that it exists at all. (This) is an important step for Puget Sound recovery.”

Nance said that kelp forests serve as a backbone of the underwater food chain by providing habitat for juvenile salmon to escape predators and obtain nourishment after their journey from natal rivers onto the Pacific. Kelp also sequesters carbon, filters water pollution and provides food for other aquatic animals, including southern resident orcas.

“If we lose the kelp canopy, we lose an entire ecosystem, (and) that will have a catastrophic cascading effect,” Nance said.

Nance praised the work of the Puget Sound Restoration Fund’s leadership — executive director Jodie Toft, and founder and director emeritus Betsy Peabody — around Port Townsend and the straits, including a kelp bed off North Beach that’s a key seed source for many of their projects.

“Betsy and Jodie have been incredible partners on this legislation from day one,” Nance said. “They approached me with their terrific idea, then helped build the coalition that drafted and worked the bill to the finish.”

Toft explained that the Puget Sound Restoration Fund collects local “seed” from North Beach for use in bull kelp seed banking and reforestation efforts.

“We also have a bull kelp-focused environmental monitoring buoy at North Beach,” Toft said. “But the Port Townsend and Jefferson County community has much more in motion, beyond our work.”

Toft credited the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe with being “actively engaged” in bull kelp research, conservation and restoration, with a focus on how bull kelp supports salmon.

“Juliana Sullivan (a marine biologist for the tribe) gave powerful testimony in support of the bill, and also worked with staff from the tribe to ensure that the bill language appropriately honored tribal treaty rights, and clarified that the bill wouldn't affect access,” Toft said.

The Puget Sound Restoration Fund is working with Sullivan and other tribal staff on scoping a new bull kelp enhancement project near the Port Townsend Ship Canal.

Peabody emphasized that another “critical partner” has been the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe.  “They added important language to the kelp bill as well, about the importance of kelp forests in sustaining commercially and culturally important marine fisheries,” Peabody said.

Toft also cited the Jefferson County Marine Resources Committee’s bull kelp monitoring work currently underway at North Beach, adding that members of the MRC have been “actively engaged” in bull kelp conservation and restoration planning efforts.

Marine Resources Committee Vice Chair Emily Buckner noted a presentation that the MRC is organizing at the Port Townsend Public Library for Thursday, May 15, about the North Beach kelp bed and research efforts, featuring speakers from the Puget Sound Restoration Fund and the Northwest Straits Commission.

“The Northwest Straits Commission has been one of the core partners in bull kelp conservation and recovery as the coordinators of bull kelp kayak monitoring throughout north Puget Sound,” said Toft, who also pointed to the “immersive” traveling kelp exhibit at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center at Fort Worden.

“Even the community of Beckett Point, just south of Cape George, in Discovery Bay, is definitely keen to track the kelp bed in and around the Point,” Toft said. “There are connections to bull kelp throughout Jefferson County, and I've only just highlighted the eastern side of the county.”